Sur le Pong......

Where I lived when young a lot of place names were not pronounced as they were spelt.
It was a joke with lecturers when studying geography they would ask the people who they knew lived there to pronounce them. Sat navs usually say them as they are spelt as do TV announcers on the news and to our ears sounds very odd.

København sorry about the extra e.

It is slightly unfair to expect anyone, irrespective of their job, to be able to pronounce any foreign word correctly.

After all, there are sounds in any language that are well-nigh impossible for those who are not native speakers, or did not learn the language before they were 10 or 12 to say correctly.

Added to that most languages, and certainly English, has a long tradition for pronouncing foreign words as the would be in English. Some you could say correctly, like Hannover, which in German has the emphasis on the second syllable where English puts it on the first and omits an "n" when writing the name, others like Københaven (Copenhagen to you) no English speaker will manage.

I myself find it hard to differentiate between the single r in Spanish words such as "pera" meaning stop and "perra" meaning the bitch in the acceptable sense of a female dog and in Spanish you are expected when talking of animals to know whether they are male or female.

So expecting newscasters to pronounce foreign names as the speakers of the language do is asking for trouble. And if they did say them correctly, you would probably have no idea who or where they meant.

And not all speakers of a language pronounce place or surnames in the same fashion, anyhow.

Even someone born in Britain is likely to come a cropper with place names like Tignabruiach if they don't happen to be a Scot. And the Welsh are no doubt hard put to it too to understand a Scot or English person's attempts at their names!

Dickens

Germanshepherdsmum

There’s a Sky newsreader who couldn’t pronounce President Hollande’s surname. She always, always sounded the H. I couldn’t understand why she was never taught the correct pronunciation.

You've just made the same point my OH was agitating about this morning!

We frequently listen to Classic FM and he's puzzled why those chosen to continually announce the names of foreign composers don't appear to have been taught the correct pronunciation. His 'pet' peeve is the same as the OP's, but also "Mowsart" ().

My similar pet peeve is anyone pronouncing Bach as Bark. 🤬

Dickens, I usually turn the volume right down when JL starts yet again to tell us about Hurtigruten cruises in that breathy voice. I do like her - except for that breathy voice! And the wording, trying to imply that she’s a regular employee of HG (we, our) in such an instantly recognisable voice.

Ditto Kevin Whately and his equity release ads.

BigBertha1

The announcements on my favourite radio station drive me mad. Apparently I'm listening to Cerlassic FM!

That's a Cerlassic!
😁

Sorry Cabbie -not you !
@OP

The announcements on my favourite radio station drive me mad. Apparently I'm listening to Cerlassic FM!

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

What about places in England like Doncaster? Is it Don caster, a as in cat, or Don cahster?
Newcastle: I often hear New cahstle with the stress on New, but don’t locals say New cassle, with the stress on Castle?
I think it ought to be how the locals say it.

Imagine my dilemma; I was raised with a French father, and I could never roll my r's properly. There is a 'r' in my maiden name. How shameful...

There are plenty of mispronunciations made by news-readers, especially in a live story. I would think the producers of the news shows would tell them the proper pronunciation before the show, and the readers would do their best.

Callistemon21

Fleurpepper

Many geographical names are pronounced differently by locals and non locals- in France as well as UK.

Like ChamoniX or Chamoni, or Stifkey or Stukey, etc, etc.

Good point.

Our satnav woman cannot pronounce our town's name!
I always shout at her.

I always shout at her.

🤣🤣

When I was young I would have been horribly embarrassed to mispronounce a word, especially on TV. Now it happens all the time on TV.

😁
We knew people in Levelhead!!

Our previous Satnav was always telling us to take the turning for Levelhead instead of Leatherhead. I miss that now that we have a newer version!

Elizabeth Alker

I shall ask quietly - who is she?
And is her surname pronounced Al ker or All ker?
Or even Al Keer with the emphasis on the Keer?

MrsKen33

Most people don’t even try with Welsh words.

😂😂😂

Now, what are the Brecon Beacons now?

Fleurpepper

Many geographical names are pronounced differently by locals and non locals- in France as well as UK.

Like ChamoniX or Chamoni, or Stifkey or Stukey, etc, etc.

Good point.

Our satnav woman cannot pronounce our town's name!
I always shout at her.

Most people don’t even try with Welsh words.

Joanna Lumley advertises the Norwegian mini-cruise, 'Hurtigruten'. Pronounced as one word.

Hurtig means "quick" and ruten means "the route".

However, JL splits it in two - "hurti-gruten" with the accent on the wrong letter (g). Which makes my Scandinavian OH fizzle with indignation.

However, I doubt most people even listen to the advert - but he thinks that's irrelevant.

Many geographical names are pronounced differently by locals and non locals- in France as well as UK.

Like ChamoniX or Chamoni, or Stifkey or Stukey, etc, etc.

Germanshepherdsmum

There’s a Sky newsreader who couldn’t pronounce President Hollande’s surname. She always, always sounded the H. I couldn’t understand why she was never taught the correct pronunciation.

You've just made the same point my OH was agitating about this morning!

We frequently listen to Classic FM and he's puzzled why those chosen to continually announce the names of foreign composers don't appear to have been taught the correct pronunciation. His 'pet' peeve is the same as the OP's, but also "Mowsart" ().

Freya5

CountessFosco

If Elizabeth Alker on Saturday mornings mispronounces yet another foreign word or name, we shall throw the radio out the window. Not content with Duh-voor-jack, this morning's effort elicited Sur le Pong d'Avignong.

Oh what a shame,news reader pronouncing an unusual name. 1st world problems, and waste of a good radio.

This is Pedants' Corner. The whole purpose of it is to complain about such things which doesn't, of course, prevent anyone from being aware, or caring about, serious problems outside the first-world. Or even within it.

It's when English words are pronounced incorrectly that I get cross.
Research is a case in point! 😬

So hard to come up with a phonetic version - on reflection maybe D’vorzhak

CountessFosco

Riverwalk

Well how do you pronounce Dvorak?

I'm not sure there is a correct way to pronounce foreign words - would you say 'Paree' or 'Mosc-vah'?

Well, this is name, not a place such as Par-ee etc.
We would say "Vourjzac" certainly without the D
But perhaps any Czech speakers might confirm?

I also did a year of Czech - and I would always have pronounced the D running it into the V so Dv so a bit like “div”not Duh Vuh
However I admit tho driving a Skoda NOT a Shkoda